2011 feb

							                                            IASCOE
                              Board of Director’s Winter Meeting
                                        Feb 4-5, 2011
                                           Boise, ID
Present:

Dale George             President                        Jenae Prescott          Vice-President
Janie Hudson            Secretary                        Annette Schenck         Past-President
Micki Linehan           Director – North                 Jeff Groat              Director – West
Susan Kime              Director – South                 Cary Curtis             Director- South
Lisa Eaton              Director – East                  Tony Potter             Director- East
Farleigh Byers          Webmaster

Guests:

Dick Rush               State Executive Director         Ron Abbott           Farm Program Chief
Chris Wood              Farm Loan Specialist             Cathy Dennison       J M Marketing Rep
Mike Matthews           J M Marketing Rep                Billy Wayne Dennison CED – Montana


The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by IASCOE President, Dale George. Dale welcomed
everyone and introduced Dick Rush, Idaho State Executive Director, as the first speaker of the
afternoon.

Dick talked about rolling out Idaho’s strategic plan and all the work that went into it. He noted that FSA
will be on a continuing resolution through March 4th, and then we are facing proposed budget cuts of 74
billion in 2011. Dick said he foresees changes coming, but whatever Congress gives us, we will handle it.
When asked if he thought we would have a wage freeze beyond two years, Dick responded that he
hoped Congress would not continue to look at employee’s salaries when trying to balance the budget.
He noted that areas with a higher concentration of agriculture did not get hit as hard with the economic
downfall. Dick also said that he is proud of our organization and that he gets many compliments on
behalf of the county offices.

Annette Schenck thanked Mr. Rush for supporting IASCOE by opening up the Key Program Technician
position and for implementing the Idaho Strategic Plan. She said that both of these actions would boost
the morale of the employees in Idaho. Dick noted that Idaho had some great applicants for the Key PT
position and that one had been selected but not yet announced. He also talked about the National
Strategic Plan being very good, too. Dale encouraged Dick to consider an all-state meeting for the
mandatory EEO Training this spring to help IASCOE promote the 2012 Convention. Dick said that it
would be up to the budget on whether or not this would happen.

Dale thanked Dick for coming to the meeting and for his continued support of IASCOE and he introduced
Cathy Dennison from J M Marketing as the next speaker.




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Cathy gave a little background on her history with FSA and NASCOE, and handed out brochures which
included information on a new cancer policy and a guaranteed permanent life insurance plan with long-
term care benefits. She noted that she would be around for two days and encouraged those at the
meeting to complete the Federal retirement planning information to get a free analysis. Cathy noted
that she would be happy to visit any Idaho FSA office to explain the J M Marketing products available if
asked.

Dale thanked Cathy for coming and introduced Northwest Area Executive Director, Cindy Hall as the
next speaker.

Cindy thanked Dale for inviting her to the meeting and noted that she is a 33-year employee with FSA
and has no intentions of retiring in the immediate future. She noted that NASCOE is looking at tools to
fix the financial situation because they don’t want to see continued wage freezes or possible furloughs,
and they don’t believe the budget should be balanced on the backs of federal employees. She said that
NASCOE members will be going to the hill for a full legislative conference in early March, and that one of
the positions will be that FSA is the best agency to continue taking crop reports from the producers.

Cindy encouraged IASCOE members to sign-up for CAPWIZ on their home computers. She stated that
this is the fastest method to be alerted to bills containing laws that affect FSA employees and a great
way to let your Congressional folks know your concerns. Cindy noted that talks of a joint convention
with NACS and NASE have not materialized and that 2014 would be the earliest date that this might
happen. She invited everyone to attend the NW Area Rally on June 16-18, 2011, in Medford, OR. She
said that members of the MIDAS team will be there to give a presentation and answer questions. Cindy
said that NASCOE is putting together an internal PT Work Group to find ways to come up with
promotions for PT’s that cannot physically move. She is gathering nominations from State Presidents to
select one from each Area. Cindy remarked that she is very excited to come to Boise in 2012 for the
National convention and knows that we will do a phenomenal job. She also announced her bid to
become the next NASCOE Vice-President.

Dick asked Cindy about fund-raising for the National Convention, and she said to be very careful when
approaching businesses. She gave him a copy of a letter approved by DAFO that Nebraska used, and
also said that retirees are a good source to help raise money. She noted that it is very supportive of him
to give employees administrative leave to attend the Convention because it takes a lot of people to
make it successful! Cindy noted that she would be around for the whole weekend and encouraged
everyone to ask questions. Dale thanked Cindy for coming and introduced Ron Abbott, Idaho Farm
Program Chief, as the next speaker.

Ron said that nothing new is happening in programs right now, and that Idaho is going ahead with
training as needed as long as we have money. He said that we probably won’t see him a lot, but that the
specialists will be out and about in the upcoming months. Ron stated that he is excited about the new
Key PT Program position and hopes to use this person as a training resource for the State office. He
talked about OUST and the subpoenas that went out to many CED’s in southern Idaho last week. Ron
thanked Dale for inviting him and said that he always appreciates his time with IASCOE.




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Chris Wood, Farm Loan Specialist, was introduced as the next speaker. Chris stated that she is currently
serving as the NACS National Treasurer. She said that she is proud to be from Idaho when she goes to
meetings and hears so many employees complain about the relationships between the loan and
program people in their states. Chris explained how NACS does their legislative work and said she is a
supporter of having a joint National Convention with NASCOE. She also remarked that she enjoys
working with the County Office folks in NPS and NRRS, and even though it has been a rough learning
curve, she loves the challenge.

Dale thanked the guest speakers and invited all of them to attend the Retiree Social that night. Dale
called for any proxies, and the following were presented and accepted: Becky Gross to Janie Hudson
and Christy Randall to Annette Schenck.

Janie handed out a copy of the February 2010 minutes to the directors. A motion was made by Tony
and seconded by Annette to accept the February 2010 minutes as written. Motion carried.

Jenae handed out a copy of the Treasurer’s Report and remarked that Candy was sorry she couldn’t
make the meeting. Candy made a separate report for the Convention money, but noted that it is going
into the same account as the regular funds.

Lisa Eaton reported that membership in Idaho is currently at 79%. Lisa will work with Candy to come up
with a list of non-members to send a letter and brochure to join IASCOE/NASCOE. She also encouraged
the directors to get together with the non-members to answer their questions about what NASCOE does
for them, and to have a dues withholding form available when they meet! Cathy from JM Marketing
noted that she promotes NASCOE membership any time she can and finds that many newer CED’s and
PT’s don’t even know what NASCOE offers and are more than willing to listen.

Jeff Groat said that is important for IASCOE members to respond to Capwiz alerts and make sure that
they do this from their home computers. He also noted that if your home e-mail address changes, be
sure to modify it in your Capwiz profile so you continue to get the alerts!

Micki Linehan presented a benefits report for Tami Gauthier. She said there are many new benefits for
NASCOE members, including COSTCO memberships, cell phone discounts, Silverwood Theme park
discounts, and several JM Marketing benefits as discussed earlier.

Farleigh Byers said that Anita Johnston was sorry she couldn’t attend, but she asked the Directors to
decide on whether they wanted to fund one scholarship at $500.00, or two at $250.00. After much
discussion, it was decided that Anita would be receiving more than two applications this year, so only
one would be funded at $500.00. As scholarship chairman, Anita will choose the judges who will review
the applications and select Idaho’s scholarship recipient for 2011. Anita will then forward all of the
applications to the NW Area for judging.

Jenae Prescott said that after the NASCOE Legislative Conference in Washington DC, March 7-9th, she
will write up a report and will have Farleigh post it on the IASCOE website. She noted that this could be
a very interesting conference with all the budget cuts being proposed and with a new farm bill in the
works for 2012.



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Annette Schenk reported on the Negotiation/Consultation session that she recently attended in
Sacramento, CA. She noted that they had over 200 items submitted this time, and encouraged the
directors to keep the program concerns coming is as they can be addressed any time, not just during the
negotiation sessions. She thanked Cindy for giving her the opportunity to serve in this position and
stated that it had been an awesome experience. Cindy said that Annette had done a phenomenal job as
a negotiator for the NW Area.

Cary Curtis said that he and his wife worked with Jenae on coming up with the Idaho logo for the
convention bid. Janie noted that the logo turned out great, and it received many compliments in
Arkansas! Cary said that he is going to need help on getting out information for the Convention and it
was agreed that anything he receives regarding the convention can be forwarded to the NASCOE Now
for publication.

A motion was made by Susan and seconded by Micki to accept all of the reports as presented. Motion
carried.

In Old Business, Janie reported on the IASCOE Negotiation session with the STC that was held last spring.
Items discussed were the Key Program Technician Positions; Jump Teams; face-to-face training
whenever possible; and aiming for an all-State meeting sometime in 2011. The STC gave their full
support on all of these items, as long as the budget would support them. They also backed IASCOE’s bid
to host the 2012 National Convention 100%. Janie noted that she did not have a copy of the minutes
from this Negotiation session since IASCOE did not concur with the draft that was presented by the State
Office, and a revised copy was never submitted.

In New Business, Dale remarked that in order to be successful, we must have better communications,
and must get information to Cary to put on the web. Dale noted that anytime information needs to get
out to the members quickly, Cary can send it to the directors who can in turn e-mail it to the members in
their respective districts. Cindy Hall remarked that is a good idea to get as many home e-mail addresses
as possible so that sensitive data can go out immediately and that it is very important to keep them
current and protected. She noted that the NASCOE Now newsletter was cleared by DAFO to be sent to
all employees.

Dale brought up the idea of having a separate web site for the Convention and Jeff said that he has a PT
with knowledge and experience in designing web pages that would be willing to take on the job. He
noted that she would include links of places to visit and things to do so that if attendees are going to
make a vacation out of the Convention, they will know all of the great things to see and do in Idaho!

Jenae noted that we are going to need a lot of people to attend the 2011 National Convention in Corpus
Christi, Texas, August 9-13, 2011, to assist with fundraising and to promote Idaho’s 2112 convention.
Micki remarked that it was a lot of work for the six people who went to Hot Springs last year, and the
more people willing to help, the better. A motion was made by Janie and seconded by Cary to spend up
to $10,000 to help send Convention Committee Chairs to the National Convention in Corpus Christi, TX
in 2011, noting that attendance at meetings and helping with the hospitality room is required. Motion
carried.




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A motion was made by Annette to pay up to $100 per person, not to exceed actual expenses, for any
IASCOE Member or Convention Committee Chairman attending the NW Area Rally in Medford, Oregon,
June 16-18, 2011. Lisa seconded. Motion carried.

A motion was made by Cary and seconded by Tony that the President and Vice-President serve as
delegates to both the NW Area Rally and the National Convention, with all eligible expenses paid.
Motion carried.

Dale noted that IASCOE needs a representative to set on the State Awards Committee as presented in
Idaho’s Strategic Plan; noting that this person needs to have passion and be creative and willing to think
outside the box. Annette nominated Jenae and Jeff seconded the nomination. After hearing no further
nominations, a motion was made by Jeff to cease nominations and cast a unanimous vote for Jenae.
Micki seconded. Motion carried.

Jenae said it would be nice to get a fundraiser started right away so that tickets could be sold during the
upcoming Legislative conference. Dale agreed, but said that due to the late time of day, this subject
would have to wait until tomorrow. The first day of the IASCOE meeting concluded at 4:30 p.m.

Day two of the meeting was called to order at 8:20 a.m. by President Dale George.

Janie suggested that since the budget is so tight for 2011, that we hold our annual STC/STO Negotiations
in conjunction with the mandatory EEO training in April if the STC would be meeting then, to help save
money. Items brought up for Negotiations included: purchasing head phones with microphones for all
offices to use in Live Meetings and Training sessions; allowing IASCOE to put information in the Idaho
Employees Online Newsletter; and allowing our Publicity Chairman (Cary) to go directly to Mr. Rush with
information instead of going through the IASCOE President. The directors were encouraged to ask their
members for more items and to get them to Janie as soon as possible.

Dale announced that he would not be seeking re-election for IASCOE President due to personal reasons
and thanked the directors and officers for all the help they gave him the past year. He asked for
nominations for President. Annette nominated Jenae for the position of IASCOE President; Tony
seconded. After hearing no other nominations, a motion was made by Lisa to cast a unanimous vote for
Jenae for President. Tony seconded. Motion carried.

Jenae asked for nominations for Vice-President. Cary nominated Jeff Groat for the position of IASCOE
Vice-President; Janie seconded. After hearing no other nominations, a motion was made by Lisa to cast
a unanimous vote for Jeff for Vice-President. Susan seconded. Motion carried. Janie noted that since
Jeff is an elected director, Jenae and Becky Gross will need to select his replacement.

Jenae asked for nominations for Secretary. Hearing none, she asked Janie to serve as the IASCOE
Secretary for 2011. Janie agreed, but asked for the directors and Jenae to be looking for someone else
to take over this position next year, noting that it is time to get other members more active and
involved!

Jenae asked for nominations for Treasurer. There were no nominations, but Farleigh Byers volunteered
to serve as the IASCOE Treasurer in 2011. Jenae appointed Farleigh to serve in this position, and noted
that she will need to work with Candy to make the move over the next couple of months.


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Janie noted that the directors need to decide on how many, and who, to send to the upcoming
Legislative conference. So far, Jenae, Janie and Cary have expressed interest and Dale noted that Idaho
will be reimbursed $900.00 from NASCOE to help defray expenses. A motion was made by Susan to
send Jenae, Janie and Cary to the Legislative Conference, March 7-10, 2011, with eligible expenses being
paid, noting that Janie and Jenae will share a room and a roommate will be found for Cary. Annette
seconded. Motion carried.

Jenae noted that the Directors might want to consider amending the by-laws since National Notice FI-
3022 changed the rate that we are currently using “if government-owned vehicle is available” from 28 to
19 cents per mile. A motion was made by Cary to amend the current IASCOE By-Laws, Article VIII,
Section 4, to read: “Effective January 1, 2011, authorized personnel will be reimbursed 20 cents less
than the POV rate if no government-owned vehicle is available for automobile mileage, or the actual
cost of the most practical mode of transportation, actual room cost, and a per diem allowance of the
Government standard “CONUS” rate for travel while on Association business. All claims will be subject
to review under policies established by the Board of Directors.” Tony seconded the motion. With a
unanimous “yes” vote, the motion carried to amend the by-laws.

The regular IASCOE meeting ended at 10:00 a.m. and the Convention Planning meeting started.
Proceedings for the 2012 National Convention will be kept under a different set of minutes.

Respectfully submitted,


Janie A. Hudson
IASCOE Secretary




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